TUNIS: Tunisians vote on Sunday in a election almost certain to
hand a new term to President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, the 73-year-old
who has run the North African country for over two decades.

International rights groups say the government has ensured victory
by harassing the opposition, an allegation Ben Ali said was part of a
campaign of lies by opponents who were betraying their own country.

Western governments view mainly Muslim Tunisia as one of their
closest allies in the Arab world and a moderate bulwark against Islamist
extremism.

At home, many voters credit Ben Ali with making Tunisia -- which
attracts millions of European tourists each summer -- one of the most
prosperous and stable states in a region that suffers from poverty and
political turmoil.

"I will vote on Sunday for Ben Ali. We trust him because he
has honestly done everything he promised," said an unemployed man
who gave his name as Aymen. "It is true I m unemployed, but there
is no alternative to Ben Ali."

The Tunisian president, who came to power in 1987 when doctors
declared his predecessor unfit to rule, won the last election five years
ago with 94.4 percent of the vote.

In a television address on Saturday evening, he said the election
campaign "has been conducted within the framework of the law and
democratic principles."

"The law will be applied ... with rigour against anyone who
spreads doubts or accusations about the integrity of the electoral
process without providing hard proof," he said.

Ben Ali has three opponents in Sunday s race. Two of them, Mohamed
Bouchiha of the Popular Union and Ahmed Inoubli of the Unionist party,
rarely criticise the government. The third, Ahmed Brahim, head of the
Renewal Movement, only received permission to campaign actively a week
before the vote.

Dotted through the capital are stands with space for posters of the
four candidates. Most have only three posters, with the space for Brahim
empty.

"I am sure that I am not going to win," Brahim told about
400 supporters on Friday at his only campaign rally in the capital.

Tunisia s most prominent opposition figure, Nejib Chebbi, is
boycotting the election on Sunday, in which voters will also be electing
members of parliament. New York-based campaign group Human Rights Watch
said the vote was taking place in an atmosphere of repression.

"Elections will be free and fair in Tunisia only when the
authorities stop muzzling opposition candidates, journalists and
dissidents," Sarah Leah Whitson, the group s Middle East and North
Africa director, said in a statement.

Muscat Press and Publishing House SAOC 2009

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